“Ideas— An Extraordinary Substance” is a lecture series that celebrates obsession and ice cream. We ask people obsessively devoted to something to share their research and thoughts with us, and as we listen to their presentation and formulate questions for the Q&A period, we have an opportunity to eat vegan or non-vegan ice cream, provided free of charge and produced by the artisans at Reilly Craft Creamery. You heard that right: both the IDEAS and the ICE CREAM are completely free and provided to you on a couple of Thursdays in September. Come on down to a.gen.cy headquarters, and prepare yourself for intellectual and gastronomic treats!

Thursday, September 13, 6-8pm -“Dance Show Dialectics & Ephemeral Archives” with William Marcellus Armstrong – Choreographer and experimental performance-maker William Marcellus Armstrong will honor us with a presentation on the power of body as signifier. The relationship between dancer, audience, and environment can run the gamut from aesthetic, to emotional, to political, to metaphoric. Armstrong is prepared to break down the choreographic arsenal, and hopefully leave us all better-versed in body language. Plus, exciting new flavors to debut from Reilly Craft Creamery, with vegan and non-vegan options.

Thursday, September 20, 6-9pm – Eastern Market After Dark: a.gen.cy Open Invitational – It promises to be a live night down at ye olde Eastern Market, and a.gen.cy is preparing to present several of their current projects for your inspection and enjoyment. Activate Caroline del Giudice’s BIAS-AWARENESS MACHINE, if you dare, or make a bid to win Shannon Goff’s GHOSTMOBILE for use in your own media project! You can also pick up maps that will lead you to a secret set of Little Free Library boxes around Detroit, specially curated around the theme of “Detroit Survival.” And, of course, ice cream while supplies last, so get a clue and make a.gen.cy the first stop on your EMAD adventure!

Thursday, September 27, 6-8pm -“Flag of My Nation” with Sarah Rose Sharp – a.gen.cy organizer, writer, and interdisciplinary media artist Sarah Rose Sharp will present her ongoing research regarding the visual semiotics and metaphoric implications of flags as an art form. Presenting a brief survey of artists that choose to intervene with existing flags, as well as those who have boldly ventured to create new narratives through the creation of personal flags, Sharp debates the importance of flags, and touches on their use in the promotion of abstract and oppressive concepts, such as borders and nationalities. Whether you capture the flag or not, there will be ice cream for everyone.